The week's good news: September 7, 2017

1. Engaged couple donates wedding meal to Harvey victims

When Hurricane Harvey forced Houston couple Dayna Skolkin and Josh Tillis to postpone their pre-wedding dinner, they decided to use the occasion to help storm victims. The couple had planned to hold a dinner for friends and family the night before their nuptials, at local community center Aishel House. Harvey disrupted those plans, but the food had already arrived — so Skolkin and Tillis decided to serve the three-course meal to evacuees sheltering at the center instead. Weary guests dined on chicken, mashed potatoes, bread rolls, and vegetables. "It was nice that the fruits of our would-be wedding weekend went to such a better cause," Skolkin told People.

People

2. Female quarterback makes history with jaw-dropping touchdown pass

Hollywood Hills High School's football team may have lost the game against their rival, Hallandale, but quarterback Holly Neher won't soon forget it. In her first pass of her high school career, Neher, 16, became the first female quarterback in her county — and possibly the entire state of Florida — to throw a touchdown pass last week. "Coaches were screaming from the sidelines," Neher told the New York Post. Neher, who is 5 foot 2 inches tall, is only the second girl in Hollywood Hills' history to make the varsity football team. She encouraged other women who want to play football not to give up. "I hope that they all see how small I am and no matter what mindset or color, race, size, gender, you can do anything you want," she said.

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New York Post

3. 11-year-old girl kickstarts effort to collect new shoes for Harvey victims

An 11-year-old girl from Plano, Texas, is stepping up to help her fellow Texans in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Sixth-grader Brooke Cobb has set up a crowdfunding page in the hopes of collecting 250 pairs of new shoes to send along to the victims of Harvey, an effort she's dubbed "Harvey Soles." Cobb also aims to raise $1,000 to put toward purchasing more shoes. "Dear North Texas, Houston needs our help!" Cobb wrote on her page. "Let's join together to assist with the relief efforts for those in need." As of Thursday morning, Cobb had raised $1,490. "Everybody deserves a new pair of shoes," Cobb told WFAA.

The Houston Chronicle WFAA

4. Lemonade stand raises more than $1,600 for local children's hospital

Nine-year-old Noah Nelson and his friends spent their summer vacation raising money at their lemonade stand for the Vancouver B.C. Children's Hospital after their classmate was diagnosed with brain cancer. "This was not something their mothers or fathers suggested that they do, they came up with the idea themselves," hospital spokeswoman Pamela Smith told CBC News. Nelson and his friends wanted to raise $1,000 for the hospital, but surpassed their goal with a final check of $1,636.20. Nelson admitted that working the stand was "really hard" but added: "I feel really lucky to be able to do this because I've always wanted to set up a lemonade stand for the summer but I never thought it would be to raise money for the hospital."

CBC News

5. 'Rocket' the border collie goes from unwanted stray to Harvey rescue dog

A stray dog that narrowly escaped being put down is helping to save lives after Hurricane Harvey. Rocket, a lively border collie mix from Sacramento, was put on a euthanasia list in 2012, after the shelter holding the pooch deemed him too unpredictable for adoption. But National Disaster Search Dog Foundation volunteer Andrea Bergquist saw something special in Rocket's energy and saved him. Now the professionally trained canine is sniffing out storm survivors amid the wreckage in Houston. "It is truly amazing to see how far Rocket has come," Bergquist said.

CBS8